Heber City to Driggs

90 and 120 meter ski jumps with artificial snow 

For a morning run, Emily, Jacob and I drove over to Solder Hollow which was the venue for cross country, biathlon and the nordic portion of nordic combined for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.  I had heard it was looking a little rough around the edges, and it was true.  Some of the main buildings in the stadium were being used for a small private academy.  Much of the decorative fencing was in need of repair and painting.  The terrain was really challenging, with tough hills, so it was a slow run.  There was even a wash-line in the middle of the stadium, which I assume is removed during the ski season.
After showers and breakfast, we drove north to Park City to see the town and do a little shopping.  In the winter this is a busy ski town, with some major alpine slopes next to town.  One slope actually enters town by a bridge and ends at the main drag.  Park City was the focus of the 2002 Winter Olympics with many venues in the vicinity and the Olympic Village located on the edge of town.  It is a real cool town with western influenced architecture and a lot of tourism related businesses along the main street.  The Tour of Utah bike race had finished on main street the day before we arrived,

Skier, mid jump at the freestyle aerials training site

After walking around town for an hour or so, we headed to Utah Olympic Park  This area hosted ski jumping, freestyle skiing aerials, luge and bobsled competition.  Visitors could pay to ride a specially adapted sled down the concrete run that is used for year-round training.  The ski jumps have a special porcelain surface that simulates snow, and the landing hills have a plastic carpet-like surface on which the skiers can land on.  The freestyle aerial skiers also had an artificial surface on the run-in ramps and they landed in a pool after doing all their flips and twists.  Coaches would activate a bubbler in the pool which served to soften the landing for athletes at the end of their run.  There was only one skier training during the time we were there, but she wowed everyone watching.  There was a small group of kids launching off a smaller jump and doing some helicopters into the pool.

Mormon Tabernacle

On the way to Interstate we drove through the heart of Salt Lake City, which is a beautiful city and very clean.  We decided to take a look at the Mormon Tabernacle, at the center of the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The architecture was characterized by an attention to detail, and very ornate and influenced by styles found in the great cathedrals all over the world.  The grounds were immaculately landscaped and well maintained.

As we headed north toward Idaho we entered an area of large wheat growing area.  We drove through a couple small towns that reminded me of the mid-west and prairie regions, complete with grain elevators. As we turned east toward Idaho, we encountered strange looking buildings that were of A-frame design and had soil and grass covering the roofs   We were very curious about what they were.  At the same time we started seeing a lot of potato fields among the wheat, so we guessed they had something to do with that crop.

We arrived at our destination, Driggs Idaho and The Pines Motel.  The inn-keeper, John Nielson, was friendly and accommodating.  The motel had dated decor and furniture, but we had 2 adjoining rooms and some additional space for our 2 night stay, so I guess that balanced out.  John confirmed that the buildings were potato cellars, used for long term storage of the harvest.  We enjoyed our stay in Driggs and in the Teton Valley.